Bringing together the fabulously geeky girls of Johannesburg

Tag Archives: Women in tech

Do you love food? Do you love tech? Are you into geeking out with other women? Then you are going to want to be all over Geek Girl Dinners. I recently caught up with the Johannesburg founder, Leigh-Ann Fowle to find out all about what to expect at one of their events.
GN: Let’s start at the beginning, how was the idea for Geek Girls Dinner born?
LF: It was started by a woman who was tired of attending tech events and being the only woman there. It has now spread around the world.
GN: Where do Geek Girl Dinners happen?
LF: They take place around the globe in 99 cities. The Johannesburg chapter was started in November 2011 by myself and Kirsty Sharman.
GN: What typically goes down at a GGD event?
LF: The events are held every second month, at different venues around Johannesburg. Ladies arrive, have an opportunity to network, eat fabulous food, listen to a phenomenal guest speaker and stand a chance to win great prizes. They also leave with a stunning goodie bag.
GN: What topics can girls expect to be discussed at the dinners?
LF: The topics relate to being a woman in business e.g. leadership, inspirational stories or specific tech i.e. email security or social media law. We look for topical issues that we can find experts to speak on.
GN: How can girls go about starting a chapter in their city?
LF: You can contact Girl Geek worldwide (girlgeekdinners.com) and apply to start a chapter.
GN: I noticed that some pretty big tech brands like Mimecast have sponsored dinners in the past. How can a business go about sponsoring an event?
LF: Contact the organisers via email info@girlgeeksofjhb.co.za We are always looking for brands to partner with!
GN: A little birdy told us GGD also offers corporate training as well, what is that all about?
LF: We offer training on social media that is customised for each client. So for example, how to use social media for sales, social media training for employees, social media policies etc
GN: How has being a part of GGD affected your career path?
LF: I have learnt so much from the amazing women that attend our events. That is what Girl Geeks is all about – connecting women.
GN: What do you think companies can do to encourage more girls to join tech?
LF: I think it’s important to demystify tech and show the many wonderful opportunities that are out there. This is one of the reasons we run these events.
GN: Who do you look up to in the tech industry?
LF: Sheryl Sandburg. Her book Lean In has had an amazing impact on the women that I talk to.

At Girl Geeks, we are passionate about education. Whether that is sharing knowledge through our events, or educating the next generation of women to enter the tech field. Of course, we know that there are enormous challenges surrounding education, which is why we were thrilled to attend the Mums on the Run workshop, hosted by A to Z tutoring.

The workshop has been developed by Raquel Nielson. Raquel has a BSc degree in Molecular Cell Biology, a BSc Honours in Biotechnology and postgrad certificate in education with honours in mathematics and further education and training. She’s also taught for a few years. You could not find a person more passionate about education than Raquel and it is wonderful to see.

The idea behind the workshop is to teach parents simple skills that they can use in everyday life to help their children learn.

For example:

Baking: when you are baking with your child, show them what each ingredient is and how much it weighs. As they get older, you can ask them to get the ingredients themselves and even start to weigh them out for you.

Every day shapes: as children get older, they need to master geometry. A good way to give them a head start is to use something simple like a cereal box. Look at the size, shape, surface area. Show them the vitamin and nutrient breakdown.

Time management: a good tip is to spend a portion of time each day to going through schoolwork, even if there is not any homework. This gets children into a good habit and will hopefully keep them from pretending that they don’t have any!

The workshop is R250 and is well worth attending. They also offer classes to companies. The next workshop is on 13 March and we have 1 ticket to give away! If you would like to attend, all you need to do is comment on this post and tell us why you would like to win a ticket. The lucky winner will be announced on 2 March 2015.

At Girl Geek Dinners, we believe in inspiring women; to dream, to achieve their goals and have a lot of fun while doing it! That is why we were so excited to hear about the inaugural Inspiration Indaba brought to you by Citadel in partnership with Moneyweb. There is a fantastic speaker lineup, with inspiring South Africans sharing their stories of success.

There are two great female speakers; Lee Swan, a climate change strategist and the first South African-born woman to race to the magnetic North Pole and Lynette Ntuli, CEO of asset and infrastructure development firm Innate Investment Solutions.

The event will take place on 2 September 2014 and we have two tickets to giveaway, valued at R1 500 each! All you have to do is leave a comment on the post below. Winners will be selected by Random Results and announced on Friday, 22 August.

Congrats to our two winners – MeeA Parkins and Anuschka Richards. We hope you enjoy the event!

We love events that feature women in tech and this year’s Wired Women Conference is an event which we are extremley excited about!

Featuring a great line-up of exciting speakers, the conference profiles some of the dynamic women (and men) that have taken up prominent roles within the industry. Globally, women make up over half of all the social media users and gamers, with a significant number of Computer Science graduates. With the growth potential in Africa, the future is incredibly positive.

The conference will look at how to make the industry more inclusive, diverse and nurture the culture of innovation that already exists.

We have an exciting special for Girl Geeks – if you book with the promotional code “GG” you will be receive a 10% discount off the retail price. To qualify for this offer, email: lizzy@qualitylife.co.za

We had two lovely speakers for the evening – Dr Julie Taylor from Google and Melanie Minnaar founder of the Twitter Blanket Drive.

Melanie Minnaar and Dr Julie Taylor

Julie’s talk was around technology, women and Africa. She looked at the opportunities available and what Google is doing to help women enter the tech space. Melanie spoke about using social media for good and the impact that the blanket drive has had, as well as how phenomenally it has grown since inception.

Our venue was the beautiful Gwefey. With a gorgeous view & stunning food, they were wonderful hosts.

Our two lovely speakers for the evening were Lynette Hundermark and Tiana Cline. Lynette gave an interesting insight into the world of Mobile App development and her career journey, while Tiana shared some great gadget reviews.

Thanks to everyone that joined us and has shared in the Girl Geek journey this far.

On that note, we are looking for AV equipment for our Girl Geek Dinners – if anyone has a contact for us, please get in touch.

Our next event will be held in February – look forward to seeing you all there!